MM: Thanks for your detailed and articulate response. I agree with most of your points, especially things like the need for simplification, putting downward pressure on high provider prices, and a role for health savings accounts.

Certainly, Sanders-style Medicare for All is one way to go, but, as you point out, it is so broad in scope it would face big political opposition. I agree we need some plan that would satisfy some of the main goals of MFA in a more politically feasible way. Rather than making a horizontal cut in MFA (cutting it off at 55), though, UCC would be a way to make a vertical slice — or maybe I should say diagonal — by extending benefits to all ages but tying deductibles to incomes. For more on the relationship of UCC to MFA, see my earlier post, “Suppose Democrats Win on Medicare for All. What Then?”